1. I don’t care what Google Maps tells you. Driving from DC to the Patriot Center takes more than an hour. The back-story: after work, I left for the show, looking forward to seeing indie-ish Tegan and Sara and headliners The Killers. But an hour was not enough. The hour and a half I gave myself wasn’t enough. When I finally arrived at the Patriot Center, I would have been late for The Killers’ scheduled time. Luckily, it took another forty minutes before they went on. But my two-hour drive reminded me something about DC: always head out early. You never know. I was on the 66, and there was a bad wreck. There goes the opener (sorry guys!).

2. The Killers friggin’ had to be engineered. I mean, there’s no way that a band that just happens to fill every rock cliché – the unkempt drummer, the don’t-give-a-shit frontman, the quiet, sleeveless and mop-headed guitarist – and happens to make insanely catchy music. And they’re from Las Vegas. Yeah, not buying it.

3. On that thought, The Killers put on the “perfect” rock show, but it’s lacking something. Hard to say what … maybe a lack of actually feeling to these songs. Everyone looks kinda bored, in that not-bored-at-all way. In other words, it feels like everyone up there is faking. Stop mentioning it’s a Tuesday, Brandon Flowers. Don’t tell us you can’t “talking about it” so you gotta “sing about it.” Nobody says that, ever. Not at rock shows at least. Sixteen-year-olds who get high for the first time on shitty weed say that. Don’t be a sixteen-year-old who just got high for the first time on shitty weed. Please.

4. The light team could use a little work. Most of the background video was, and I’m not kidding here (which is important), the Windows 95 stars screen saver. You know the one where you’re flying through space, but space looks the same ever 1.2 seconds? That’s the one, and there’s nothing else really going on but flying, flying, flying. Except of course when the scene would change to the road. During the opening songs, the screen displayed a street. It was stationary, and the POV was that of a stationary person. Later, WE WERE GOING DOWN THAT ROAD. Come on, guys. Just, come on.

5. Holy shit I don’t care what I wrote about so much that I won’t use punctuation or grammar anymore because songs like “Mr. Brightside” and “Somebody Told Me” just rock so freaking hard. I’m not kidding, these songs just blow your goddamn face off. Maybe this band was engineered. I don’t know. I don’t care. It’s a cheese-fest if I ever saw one, but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t pumping my $12 24-ounce Budweiser along with them, with every word. “Somebody told me that you had a boyfriend who looked like a girlfriend that I had in February of last year …”

The brain child of Gogo Legend Christian Black “Rapper Dude” also known as “Rah” formerly of Northeast Groovers, in Washington DC., the W.H.A.T. Band, an acronym for Washingtons Hottest And Talented, was formed in 2000 as a new musical venture to bring his iconic Gogo career into its next phase and seal his contribution to Gogo Music and his status as the most resilient and versatile Lead Talker in Gogo History. After a few phases of direction and membership, the artists and musicians that make up the WHAT Band (what fans now call WHAT Band 2.0) who had the fastest and most impactful meteoric rise from 2004-2012 were comprised of himself, Michelle Blackwell (Co-Manager/Vocalist/Rapper/Lead), Calvin Henry “Killa Cal”/Rapper, Stephon Green/ Vocalist, Michael Harris ”Duce 7”/Percussionist, Jermaine Chase “Rocket Rob”/Conga/RotoTom/Timbale Percussionist, Andrew Wilson “Chuckin’ Drew”/Lead Guitar Player, Rico Munson/Bass Guitar, Joel Sturdivant “Smokin’ Joe”/Drummer, David Cleveland/Keyboards and Vincent Watson “V-Man”/Keyboards.
This innovative and creative staple in Gogo Music, W.H.A.T. Band, was known for having a sound and a party atmosphere that separated them from everything else going on within the Gogo Industry, from 3 sets per show, R&B/Crank/Bounce and Rock, W.H.A.T. Bands fans, aptly named “Crank Nation” came to expect a different standard of performance, song selections and diversity, and creativity in theme and delivery from their favorite band. With original songs like “Crystal Skate”“Rock and Roll Bounce Beat”, “Reminsice” ,“09 ”, “That’s my car” and “Carry Out Beat”, as well as classic remakes/covers of songs like “Irreplaceable”, “Hard in the Paint”, and “Drop it Low”, W.H.A.T Bands trendsetting aesthetic helped make them the hottest band in the DMV in the mid to late 2000’s. , landing them the WKYS Gogo Award for Best Female in 2007, The 2008 DC Music Gogo Award for Best Lead Talker, and Band of the Year, and the 2009 DC Music Gogo Award for Best Rapper.
The members of this band have all decided, after popular demand to bring all the members, some who have gone on to other bands, moved to other states and/or started other projects, to come together for one night only to commemorate their accomplishments and party with their fans like they used to at the Classics, CFE, LaPearl, Safari Steakhouse, The Tradewinds, Legends and Club Elite on Sunday, September 20th Live at the Howard Theater from 10pm-2am.